“I need ta see him, Rachel.”
“We was just settin’ down for supper. You wanna plate?”
“No, thank you. I just need a few minutes a his time.”
“I’ll go get him.”
Doc Stevens came out a little later and looked at me. “The hell you doin’ outta bed?”
“Were there another killin’, Doc? Nother girl?”
He looked at me gravely but didn’t say nothin’ for a minute. “Yes, there was.”
“Rebecca? Henry’s daughter?”
“Fraid so, Jesse.”
“She here?”
“For another night, then they’ll bury her in the morning.”
I stood up straight, usin’ the wall as support. “I wanna see her.”
“You should be in bed.”
“We should all be a lotta things. Lemme see her, Doc.”
“Come on back.”
I followed him inta the house. I could smell the pork they was fryin’ and saw the cornbread and vegetables out on the table with a bottle a wine. He took me ta the office and shut the door behind him. A body was underneath a sheet on the same table I’d seen Missy on.
“Where’s Missy?”
“Had her funeral yesterday.”
“Yesterday? Why didn’t no one tell me?”
“You were sick, Jesse. You didn’t need to be bothered.”
I nodded, not takin’ my eyes off the sheet. “Lemme see her.”
He walked over and unfolded the sheet bout halfway. He pulled it down, and I felt sick. I didn’t say nothin’ but I couldn’t look away neither. The Doc was patient and stood there a while.
“It’s worse this time,” he said. “You can see she’s been eviscerated. Coyotes made off with most of the internal organs.”
“This weren’t no damn wolf pack.” I looked ta him and he averted my eyes. He looked down ta the floor and wouldn’t look back up ta me. “If we had warned them…”
“I don’t know if it woulda made a difference or not.” He covered the body, what was left a it, back up. “You got a witness this time though.”
“A witness? Who?”
“Dave Beauchamp’s kid. Tyson.”
“What’d he see?”
“You’d have to ask him.”
I leaned gainst the counter till I saw a chair and sat down in it. “When this happen?”
“Yesterday.”
I sat quietly a minute. “I’m really weak, Doc. I need somethin’ for my strength.”
“No, you need to lay in bed and sleep.” He walked over and undid the bandages. “Hold on a minute.” He cleaned the wound with a sponge and then put on fresh bandages. “The infection’s subsiding but you need rest. You’re gonna make it worse.”
“What kinda man does this ta a little girl?”
“Don’t know, but I reckon he ain’t no man. Not in the sense you mean it.”
I stood up and thanked him and told him I would pay for his services later. “Betty already said she’d take care of it,” he said. “But sheriff shouldn’t have to pay for job related injuries. Tell her nevermind.”
I walked out and sat on his porch a spell. I felt dizzy and weak and my stomach was burnin’ and I didn’t know if it was cause a infection or cause I hadn’t eaten or drank nothin’ in three days. I pulled myself up, and began hobblin’ over ta the Beauchamp’s home.
CHAPTER 11
The Beauchamp’s were one of the wealthier folks that lived in Cosgrove. Dave Beauchamp made his money treasure huntin’ of all things. Found a sack filled with gold coins up there in South Carolina and hasn’t worked a day in his life since. He’s a frugal man anyway and that little bit just ensured that he would penny-pinch for the rest a his life.
I knocked on the door and one of the youngins answered.
“Your father here?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Will you get him for me, son?”
“Yes, sir.”
The little scamp ran off and Dave walked out a moment later. “Sheriff? I heard you was laid up in bed with the fever.”
“Doin’ better now, Dave. How you been?”
“Good as can be. You here for Tyson I take it?”
“Rumor is he saw some things I’d like ta discuss with him.”
“Andy already talked ta him.”
“I’d like ta hear it myself if you don’t mind.”
He thought a minute. “Maybe I should have him talk to a lawyer first.”
“Only two lawyers in this town, Dave, and one more incompetent than the next. Why you want him ta have a lawyer any way?”
“Just you know, to be safe. Don’t want any miscommunications.”
“Quit pussyfootin’ and get his ass out here, Dave.”
He thought another second and then said, “All right,” and walked in ta fetch him. I now had a suspect. Hadn’t had a person ask for a lawyer in this town since I got here.
Tyson came out. He was slim and his face was pasty and white like glue. His blond hair covered his eyes and he wore his trousers too low and kept havin’ ta pull em up. I saw a bench and a chair on the porch and I sat down.
“Sit with me, boy, I ain’t gonna bite.” I saw Dave shut the door and come out on the porch himself as Tyson sat across from me. “You know Rebecca Wools?”
He looked ta his father who nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“You know she’s dead, right?”
He looked ta his father again who nodded again. “Yes, sir.”
“Did you see her fore it happened?” He looked ta his father again and I said, “Son if you look at your daddy one more time I’m gonna lock you in a cell and tape your head ta the wall so you gots ta look at me.”
“Sorry,” he stammered.
“Tell me what ya saw.”
“I was leavin’ my friend’s house, Chris, you know Chris. And I was just walkin’ home. It was late and so there was shadows everywhere and it was dark, you know. So I’m just walkin’ and I seen Rebecca talkin’ with this man. And she was laughin’ and they held arms, you know, like people does when they a pair. And they was walkin’ arm and arm and they went round a corner.” He swallowed and then looked ta his father. “And I heard her scream.”
“Who was she with?”
“I don’t know. I couldn’t see him. He was wearin’ a hat and a coat though it was hotter’n hell. And with the dark and all I couldn’t see him.”
“What’d you do when she screamed?”
He swallowed again. “Nothin’.”
“What’chyu mean nothin’?”
“I came home.”
I stared inta him a moment. “You heard a young girl scream and you ran home?”
“Yes, sir.”
I looked ta his father who weren’t lookin’ at me but out inta the street. “Why didn’t you come get me or Andy?”
“I don’t know. I weren’t thinkin’.”
“You weren’t thinkin’? What kinda answer is that?”
He looked ta his father and said, “I was drunk.”
“You all but fifteen, son. Who let you get drunk?”
“Chris had some whiskey.”
I shook my head. “You heard a scream, and then you just come home?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well can you tell me anythin’ bout this man you saw?”
He shook his head. “No, sir. I’m real sorry but I was drunk and it was dark and like I said he was wearin’ a lotta clothes and I just didn’t see enough.”
I looked ta Dave. “That why you wanted a lawyer, Dave? You thought I’d arrest him for bein’ a coward?”
Tyson looked down ta the porch and seemed like he bout ta cry. I suddenly felt bad for sayin’ it. He weren’t nothin’ but a boy. “Sorry, son, I didn’t mean it like that. You don’t know no better. Now run inside the house.”
“Yes, sir.”
He rose and went inside and Dave came and sat next ta me and took out two rolled cigarettes and lit one and gave it ta me. I inhaled and started cou
ghin’ and gave it back.
“I ain’t never seen you smoke come ta think of it,” he said.
“I don’t.”
He nodded and inhaled, the tip lighting up a bright red before dimming. “He’s a good boy, Sheriff. Works hard, smart in his schoolwork, he just don’t know much bout the world. I’ve sheltered him from that. See, me and you, we both been in war. Once you in war and you stand around and watch your friends dying all about you, that changes you. You see the world a certain way. I’ve sheltered him from that. I didn’t want him exposed to that side of things. And I don’t know if I did right or not.”
“He’s a good boy. I’m just not myself right now. I didn’t mean ta call him a coward, Dave. He ain’t.”
“No, it’s all right. He did the wrong thing. He should have at least told me but he didn’t. Not until the next day and I told Andy as soon as I had a moment to go down to the office there.”
“I appreciate it.”
I lifted myself up and began walkin’ off the porch. “He think a anythin’ else, anythin’ at all that can help me, you send him my way.”
“I will, Sheriff. And, Jesse?”
“Yeah?” I said, turnin’ back round.
“I knew Rebecca and Henry’s a dear friend a mine. When you catch this sumbitch you put a bullet in him for me.”
I stared at him a while and then turned and left.
CHAPTER 12
Wakin’ up the next day I felt better some. I was still soaked in a pool a sweat but I didn’t feel a burnin’ heat just underneath my skin so I gathered the sweat was from the heat outside. It was summer and this town was a boilin’ pot a coal in the summer.
I got outta bed and decided I needed ta take a bath. I went downstairs and found Betty cookin’ away. Ever’ day that we lived here, I woke up and saw her cooking. I looked down ta the table and there were three place settings. She turned round and smiled at me and then saw where my eyes were and she looked down ta the table.
She didn’t say nothin’, but her eyes went wide and got moist fore she covered her face with her hand and started ta cry. I walked over and put my arm round her.
“I didn’t even realize—”
“I know.”
We stood there a while and I let her cry. When she was done she pulled away and fixed her hair like women do even though it was fine. She wiped her eyes with a linen and then sat down at the table and I next ta her. We held hands as we said a blessin’ and then we ate.
My appetite was comin’ back and I ate with gusto and got seconds. I kissed her and found my badge and put it on with my boots. The bath would have to wait.
“I think you should rest,” she said.
“I know.”
“But you ain’t gonna, are ya?”
I kissed her forehead. “I’ll be back in a bit.”
As I went outside, I stopped at the doorway and thought a moment. Then I went upstairs and got my holster and my Colt from under the bed and then went back outside. I walked down ta my office and didn’t see Andy anywheres but there was someone in a cell lyin’ down on a bunk.
“That you Henry?”
“Rightly is, Sheriff.”
“You sleepin’ one off?”
“Yessir.”
I brought my chair over next ta the cell. “Henry…” I didn’t know how ta finish that sentence.
“She was the sweetest thing in my life, Jesse. I gots three daughters, but she was the sweetest. The most willin’ ta help folks. She…was…”
He began ta weep softly and I let him. I was a little upset that Andy locked him in the cell rather’n just take him home. I opened the cell and went in and leaned down beside him. I held his hand though I knew some men might find that a bit odd, and I just waited till he was ready. He eventually stopped and I helped him up and walked outside with him. He was still drunk and smelled a liquor and vomit but I stayed right with him. I walked him down inta the street and he stopped and turned ta me.
“I’m fine.”
“I can walk with ya. I been holed up in my house some and would enjoy a stroll.”
“I’d like ta be alone right now.”
He walked away, stumblin’ a little bit but gettin’ by. Folks would glance ta him and then look away. As if he done somethin’ wrong. It upset me ta no end but it weren’t somethin’ I could fix. Besides, folks wasn’t used ta this and probably didn’t know how ta act and all.
I locked the office up and went down a bit toward some a the homes behind the mercantile. Suzie lived in one a em with her mother. Her mother was sufferin’ from consumption and I knew Suzie stayed home a lot.
The house was old gray wood with a dirty winda and looked like it could collapse at any moment. I went up ta the door and knocked and no one answered. I went out back and knocked again but there was still no answer. I waited a few more minutes but when no one came I left and went down the road.
I knew the mayor wouldn’t be in his office. He never was. He’d be out walkin’ the town, shoppin’, drinkin’, gamblin’, or womanizin’. I checked Gunner’s and the secret room in back where he kept his best whiskey and allowed the high-stakes card games. I went out and checked the mercantile and went by the booths a the Negroes and Mexicans and didn’t see him. I went out to the edge a town but he weren’t there neither. It weren’t till I was back in town that I noticed somethin’ odd.
None a the women were out.
Not a one.
I stood in the middle a the street and looked about. Isaac Gillian sat on a stoop a the Cosgrove bank, which happened ta be the nicest buildin’ in town, and he was chewin’ tobacco and spitting onta the steps.
“They gonna run you off for spittin’ there,” I said.
“Yeah, I reckon they will.”
I walked over and put my foot up on one of the steps. “Isaac, you see any women around?”
“No, sir, Sheriff. I reckon they all at home scared.
“Yeah,” I said, lookin’ off. “What they scared of?”
He raised his eyes a bit. “Killin’s took place at night. Fear’s an odd thing. Seems ta beat reason with a stick.”
I exhaled. “You seen the mayor round?”
“Yeah, saw him walk inta Ruth’s place bout an hour ago. Hasn’t come out since.”
“Thanks.” I started walkin’ away and then turned back. “What the hell you sittin’ on the bank’s steps for anyhow?”
“Waitin’ for em ta open.”
“Well don’t spit there. That ain’t cleanly.”
“Sure thing, Sheriff.”
I walked off. Ruth’s house weren’t but a hop and a jump away and went over and past the gate and up the steps ta the porch. An old dog lay there and whined a bit when he looked up at me and then he lost interest and went back ta sleep.
I knocked and waited and then knocked again. Ruth answered and she looked flushed, her dress hangin’ off a her shoulder. I looked away and she noticed and adjusted it.
“What can I do for you, Sheriff?”
“I do apologize, ma’am, but I did need ta speak with the mayor.”
“Oh, let me get him.”
I looked down ta the dog while I waited. He was a prissy thing. His fur was cut up nice and he wore a bandana round his neck that looked like it’d been washed recently. His nails were trimmed and he yawned and I saw that his teeth weren’t yella at all.
“What do you need, Jesse?”
The mayor stepped outside in a suit but it looked disheveled. He shut the door behind him. I took off my hat and held it in my hand as I leaned gainst the railin’.
“We need ta cancel the parade,” I said.
“Like hell.”
“Tom, there was nother girl.”
“I know that.”
“And what? We just gonna sit by and give this man free reign?”
“I’m still not convinced it’s a man.”
“Lord All Mighty, Tom. You need him ta walk up ta ya and introduce himself fore you recognize we got a problem.”
/> “I just said I’m not convinced a man did this, I didn’t say I wasn’t going to do anything about it.”
“Well what we gonna do?”
“I’m putting out a bounty.”
“What? Are you off your rocker? You want this town filled with bounty hunters? Much a the time they worse than the people they chasin’.”
“Maybe. But I think they’ll catch this person, if it is a person. Or kill this animal if it’s an animal. I simply feel you’re not up to the task, Jesse. Don’t get me wrong, when there’s a drunk loose or you got a fight to break up, you get on it quick. But this is serious law work and I don’t think you have the intelligence for it.”
I didn’t say nothin’ just then. Cause I knew it’d be somethin’ I regretted. So I took a deep breath, thought bout it, and said, “Tom, you don’t have experience with bounty hunters. I do. They will tear this town apart lookin’ for this man. And they may find him and they may not. But the cure is gonna be worse than the disease.”
He shrugged. “Difference of opinion. But that’s all I’m doing. I’m putting out a bounty and we’re gonna find out what’s going on. Though I’m confident you’ll see it’s not a man. I saw that body of the second girl. That looked like wolves if I’ve ever seen it. Regardless, feel free to regulate the bounty hunters as much as you like, Sheriff.” He walked back ta Ruth’s door and opened it. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have business.”
He shut the door and I stood there aghast. My little town was bout ta be filled with bounty hunters. Well, I decided right there the only way ta get em outta my town as quickly as possible was ta find the person responsible for these killin’s.
But I couldn’t do it by myself. The mayor was right bout that. This was beyond me. I would need help.
CHAPTER 13
I sat on my porch as the sun set over the desert. I could look right outside a town and see the vast expanse a nothin’. A wasteland a sand and rock and shrub. The heat was beginnin’ ta fade and I pictured the cold of the desert at night and it sent a shiver up my back. In the daylight, with the intensity a the sun, the rocks and mountains looked wavy and distorted. In the night, they looked like claws tearin’ inta the sky. I had ta look away.
Black Sky (A Mystery-Thriller) Page 5
